Now on DVD: Charlie St. Cloud

I have to start by saying that I give Zac Efron props for trying to break out of his High School Musical/Teenage Heartthrob stereotype. He is certainly trying to differentiate himself from his past characters and for that I give him a great deal of credit. It is difficult for a teen sensation to break out from the mold he has made for himself, especially if that childhood mold was as lucrative as Efron’s. Sadly, I don’t think Charlie St. Cloud was the role to break Efron free from his teen bop status. The plot is weak, the writing is cliched, and the storyline is beyond convoluted. It seems that this movie was made to show Efron’s acting chops but instead it comes off as a Hallmark version of The Sixth Sense.

Charlie is a sailing champ who is devoted to his younger brother, Sam, and their single mom. While the two brothers are close, Charlie has just graduated and wants to spend time with his friends. One night, while their mom is out, Charlie is put in charge of watching Sam. The two get into a bad car accident in which Sam is killed. Charlie is unable to forgive himself. He defers going to Standford and spends five years working as a landscaper/caretaker of the local cemetery. Every evening he meets Sam’s ghost in the forest to plan catch. Charlie’s pattern is disrupted when he meets a female sailor with whom he falls in love. Suddenly he must choose whether to live in the past with the ghost of his brother or try to forge a life for himself in the present.

Though this movie touches on deep issues of life after death, grief, and regret, it does little more than tap on these issues. As a Massachusetts resident, it was hard for me to believe that this movie actually took place in Quincy when in fact it looked a great deal like the California coast. Yet my greatest disappointment was how forgettable this film is. I only watched it a couple of days ago and my memory of it is already hazy. I always look for movies and books that leave a lasting impression and make me continue to think about the characters for days or even weeks. This is not so with Charlie St. Cloud. Though I wanted to like this movie and cheer for Efron’s development as an actor, I found myself disappointed.

-DLP